Marshmallow Madness

Marshmallow Madness: Build Your House

I challenge you to spend 20 minutes a week being intentional about passing your faith on to your kids …and all you need is a bag of marshmallows.

This week: Build Your House

“The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.” Proverbs 14:1

Yes, that is Spider Man’s car in the driveway.

We’re going to build houses with marshmallows. And then eat them.

You’re going to want to give everybody in the family their own handful of marshmallows, since not only are the kids going to be touching and squishing them, but licking them will act as glue. You’ll be amazed at what you can build once you lick them!

Look up the verse together and then talk about it as you build. What does the Bible mean “to build up our house”? I teach kids it means “to add value”. How can we add value to our homes, our family? Our city, our world? On the other hand, how does a foolish woman (or man) tear down her house like in the scripture? What are some things that we do in our family to take away value from each other?

Additionally, God wants us to consider how we build ourselves up- If we are wise, we will add value to ourselves by what we learn, how we act, the words we speak, and what we focus on. We should choose to build character. An excellent novel our family read aloud helps kids understand character. Ralph Moody’s book “Little Britches: Father and I were Ranchers” depicts a father trying to instill the value of building character: “A man’s character is like his house. If he tears boards off his house and burns them to keep himself warm and comfortable, his house soon becomes a ruin. If he tells lies to be able to do the things he shouldn’t do but wants to, his character will soon become a ruin. A man with a ruined character is a shame on the face of the earth.”

As you’re building, ask which is harder: building up or tearing down. One of the kids towers could fall apart, which is a perfect opportunity to observe that tearing down can happen in a moment, but building up takes focus and careful planning. Unfortunately, one lie can seriously weaken a stellar reputation. One mean comment to a family member can trigger a series of foolish destruction.Let’s all decide to be wise in building up our house, and the next time somebody is inconsiderate to someone else, or hurting their own character you can use this lesson as a starting point by asking, “Are you building up or tearing down? Is this wise or foolish?”

Finish off with a quick family prayer. God cares about every area of our lives; let’s encourage the children to pray about whatever is on their hearts. Add to your prayer journal weekly, and be sure to leave space to jot down a quick note when God answers the prayer. Your kids will grow stronger in their faith when they can look back and see what the Lord has done.How did this work for you? Did you adapt it to fit your family?